Every Wednesday is Grammar and Vocabulary Day!

In order to give you plenty of time to work on these important parts of the English Language Arts curriculum, you will be given an assignment one week, then tested on it in subsequent weeks (see the chart, below). That means you have at least a whole week to do the assignment, check your answers, and get help if you need it. The answers will be posted each week, so you can mark your own work (and ask any questions you have).
Students are expected to COME AND ASK FOR HELP before school, after school, or during "work time" in other English blocks (if the student has completed all work due that day) if they need it.

Vocabulary
Vocabulary development is very important. Students must be able to use the correct diction (word choice) and register (level of formality) in their writing to appropriately address their audience(s). The vocabulary package we will use will help you expand your vocabulary so you can converse and write more effectively. PLOs for vocabulary development include C11, C12 and C14.

There are twelve units of vocabulary, arranged by theme. There is a short multiple-choice test at the end of each unit. Please be prepared to write your vocabulary tests as per the chart below.

Grammar
Most adults don't know a gerund from a gerbil, so it's understandable that students forget a lot of the grammar they have learned over the years. However, it is very important that students (in particular) be able to understand their teacher's feedback. If your paragraph has a note on it that says, "Be careful of pronoun/antecedent errors and be sure to check subject/verb agreement," (two of the most common problems in student writing!) you can't fix it if you have no idea what a pronoun, an antecedent, a subject or a verb is! The four units of grammar study will help you learn the lingo so you can decipher your teacher's comments--and fix those pesky errors to earn higher marks! PLOs for grammar knowledge and control include C7, C11, C12, C13, and C14.
There are four units of grammar, arranged by theme. They are longer than the vocabulary units. There will be a test at the end of each unit. Each grammar test is worth about 70 marks. Please be prepared to write your grammar tests as indicated on the chart below:

Week

Test (Click for worksheets--Vocab Only)

New Assignment (Click for answer key)

February 6

Grammar Unit 1 and Vocabulary Unit 1
February 13

Vocabulary Unit 2
February 20

Vocabulary Unit 3
February 27

Vocabulary Unit 4
March 6
Grammar Unit 1
Grammar Unit 2
March 13

Vocabulary Unit 5
March 20 and 27 fall during Spring Break. No tests!
April 3
Grammar Unit 2
Grammar Unit 3
April 10

Vocabulary Unit 6
April 17

Vocabulary Unit 7
April 24

Vocabulary Unit 8
May 1

Vocabulary Unit 9
May 8
Grammar Unit 3
Grammar Unit 4
May 15

Vocabulary Unit 10
May 22

Vocabulary Unit 11
May 29

Vocabulary Unit 12
June 5


June 12
Grammar Unit 4